Kasich: Abortion “important,” but “we focus too much” on it

In a CNN interview aired Sunday, Ohio Governor and Republican presidential candidate John Kasich suggested that many in the GOP overly emphasize abortion.

He told Dana Bash that while he considers abortion “an important issue,” there are “many other issues that are really critical. Early childhood. Infant mortality. The environment. Education.” He elaborated that “I think we focus too much on just one issue, and now that the issue of gay marriage is kind of off the table, we’re kind of down to one social issue.”

Kasich identifies as a pro-life candidate who opposes legal abortion except for rape, incest, or to save a mother’s life. As Live Action News has previously written, he held a 100% pro-life voting record during his time in the House of Representatives and has governed as a pro-lifer in Ohio.

However, while condemning Planned Parenthood for harvesting and selling the organs of aborted babies and calling for their activities to be investigated, he has yet to say whether he would work to fully defund them. Ohio Right to Life has called on him to commit to doing so, though a spokesman failed to specify whether he would, in response to a recent inquiry from The Pulse 2016 blogger Nick Arnold.